Using Your Cell Phone for Instruction ◯ ProLiteracy

Using Your Cell Phone for Instruction

ProLiteracy Blog: 4.02.2020 by Jessica Gilmour

ProLiteracy has an excellent list of resources you can use with students during this period of social/physical distancing including instructional resources and tools. Let’s talk about some of those resources and tools. Let’s start with a tool that you and your students all most likely have—a cell phone.

If you’re working with ESL students, one of the easiest ways to use a cell phone is to set up regularly scheduled calls where you can talk with students and they can practice their conversational English. Aim for at least a 10 minute conversation two times a week. Before you end your call, determine what you will talk about for the next call so the student has a chance to think about what he or she wants to say and can practice the relevant grammar and vocabulary. If you need topics, I suggest using current events topics from News for You. News for You Online is providing the courtesy password 22667F through June 30, 2020, so anyone can access News for You Online.

If you want to have a phone call with more than one student at the same time, you can google “How to make a conference call on my [insert whatever phone you have].” Though the instructions are different for each phone, they are all straightforward and easy to find. READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. Old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

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ProLiteracy Launches Global Literacy Hero Contest to Raise Awareness of Adult Literacy

ProLiteracy: 10.24.2018

In an effort to help the 36 million low-literate adults in the U.S., ProLiteracy, the leader in adult literacy content development, programs, and advocacy for more than 60 years, is pleased to announce the launch of the ProLiteracy Hero Contest. ProLiteracy launched the contest to raise awareness of the adult literacy crisis, and to recognize the adult education and literacy heroes worldwide!

A panel of ProLiteracy judges chose the top 10 national finalists from hundreds of stories and submissions that were sent in from around the world. The video and story submissions are posted to the ProLiteracy website and have been opened up to a public vote at www.proliteracy.org. Each week, the finalists will be narrowed down until the first-, second-, and third-place winners are selected on November 16.

“The local literacy organizations are the heroes who make adult learners’ dreams come true,” said Kevin Morgan, President and CEO of ProLiteracy. “Choosing the top ten finalists out of so many worthwhile organizations was very difficult. They all deserve to be recognized.”

2 of The top ten adult literacy organization finalists are from California:

LearningQuest – Stanislaus Literacy Centers in Modesto, California

Vision Literacy in Santa Clara County, CA

Carlsbad Library :: How Supporting Adult Literacy in Public Libraries Changes Lives

How Supporting Adult Literacy in Public Libraries Changes Lives

ProLiteracy Blog: 3.30.2017 by Jennifer Paulding

Adult Literacy Through Libraries

A public library—with its collections of books, journals, magazines, films, recordings, and other print and digital resources—is a community’s core source of reference, engagement, and learning. It is a user-friendly place of opportunity to organize and collaborate.

With safe and welcoming environments, it is important for public libraries nationwide to continuously offer adult literacy programs. Success stories, like that of Nyla Henry, an adult learner from the Carlsbad City Library Learning Center, inspired ProLiteracy to partner with the American Library Association (ALA) to help libraries implement adult literacy initiatives.

Nyla’s Adult Literacy Journey

Nyla Henry is a native English speaker who has been in our program for about 7 years. When Nyla’s employer discovered that she could not read, she was afraid of losing everything. Instead, he referred her to our literacy program at Carlsbad City Library.

When she was in school, she was passed along. Nyla was a pleasant student—a “teacher’s pet”—and showed skill in art, in addition to having sisters who did her homework for her. Her lack of skills wasn’t discovered until high school when she couldn’t pass the proficiency test. She was placed in special education where she memorized the answers to the test in order to graduate. After high school, she lived her life like so many learners do—in the shadows—avoiding social activities and parties where she could be discovered, and taking jobs like dishwashing and cleaning that didn’t require reading and writing. She fed her children frozen TV dinners because they had pictures on the box to show what was inside.  READ MORE @

Ruth Colvin, the Mother of the Adult Literacy Movement, Turns 100 on December 16

Ruth Colvin, the Mother of the Adult Literacy Movement, Turns 100 on December 16

Colvin has dedicated more than 50 years of her life to literacy, and shows no signs of stopping.

PR Web: 12.14.2016

“To many people the word “illiteracy” prompts images of downtrodden, starving people in third world countries. But illiteracy in America? How can that be possible? Our tax money provides schooling for every child.” These thoughts were expressed by Ruth Johnson Colvin in 1960. But when Colvin saw a 1961 newspaper article on the US Census figures that noted her hometown of Syracuse, New York had over 11,000 people who could not read, she knew something needed to be done. "Not in Africa. In my city. An educational city," Colvin said. “If I don’t do something, who will?”

Her life was transformed as she undertook the necessary steps needed to help correct the situation. Colvin determined that traditional classroom methods would not work and instead focused on the development of community networks that empowered adult learners. The organization developed effective tutor training programs to teach basic literacy and English as a second language with an ongoing support system.

Colvin earned support from Syracuse’s Church Women United (CWU) organization to sponsor a local literacy tutoring effort. She recruited volunteers and set up an office in her home’s basement. Under her leadership, the literacy volunteer movement quickly spread across the United States, and the national organization, Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc., was incorporated in 1972. Ruth and her husband, Robert, also spent more than 50 years traveling the world together to provide literacy training in more than 60 countries at the invitation of ministries, governments and universities.

During her more than five decades of literacy work, Colvin has published nine books, and visited or worked in more than sixty countries. She has been the recipient of nine honorary doctorates, and in 1987 she was given the highest award for volunteerism in the United States, the President’s Volunteer Action Award from President Ronald Regan [sic]. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 from President George W. Bush, and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1991.

In 2002, Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. merged with Laubach Literacy International to form ProLiteracy Worldwide. Colvin still serves as a lifetime member of the board of directors of ProLiteracy, is an honorary member of the board of directors of Literacy New York, and a member of the board of directors and a tutor at Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse.  READ MORE @

ProLiteracy Celebrates Longtime LAPL Literacy Volunteer Mary Anne Nelson

ProLiteracy Celebrates Longtime Literacy Volunteer Mary Anne Nelson

READ: Fall 2016 by Literacy Manager Kelly Tyler

A newsletter written by students  and tutors

Literacy Coordinator Carolyn Barelli and I attended a luncheon this July to celebrate the contributions of longtime literacy volunteer Mary Anne Nelson. Nelson was a longtime trainer and supervising trainer for California Literacy, a statewide coordinating office for community-based and library-based programs. Mary Anne was active in state and national conferences for many years.

After Nelson retired from actively training, she remained an active tutor in the Los Angeles Public Library until spring of this year. She was an active tutor with the Los Angeles Public Library since the program began in 1984.

Nelson’s continued commitment to literacy was most recently evident when she established the Mary Anne Nelson Training Fund with ProLiteracy, a national organization that promotes adult literacy. This permanent scholarship will be used to help tutor trainers with professional development materials, travel, and other support.  READ MORE @

Bob Laubach, pioneer in adult literacy education, has died

Bob Laubach, pioneer in adult literacy education, has died

Syracuse.com: 9.12.2015 by Elizabeth Doran

Robert S. Laubach, a pioneer in adult literacy education and founder of New Readers Press, died Friday at age 96.

"Dr. Bob" as he was known, and his late father Dr. Frank C. Laubach, are credited with teaching more than 100 million adults to read and write in more than 200 languages.

Bob Laubach helped his father after Laubach Literacy Inc., was founded in 1955 in Syracuse. That organization became one of the founding organizations of ProLiteracy Worldwide in 2002. Bob Laubach then developed literacy primers in local languages and organized literacy programs in more than 60 countries.

"Dr. Bob devoted his life to adult literacy and will be remembered for his many contributions over the past 80 years," said Kevin Morgan, president and CEO of ProLiteracy. "His legacy will live on in the weekly newspaper for adult learners, News for You, as well as the other adult education content he helped pioneer."

READ MORE !

Economic Stimulus Package Must Provide Funds for Adult Literacy and Basic Education !

Economic Stimulus Package Must Provide Funds for Adult Literacy and Basic Education !
ProLiteracy - Action Alert: Dec 2008

Adult learners, especially those at the lowest literacy level, often struggle to make ends meet when the economy is strong. They are especially hard hit during times of economic recession.

Adult learners must have the necessary reading, writing, math, computer, and English-language skills to get jobs and keep them. Any economic stimulus bill that Congress considers must include money for programs that help adults gain these skills.

Tell your representatives and your Senators that there must be economic stimulus money for adult literacy and basic education programs !

Send an E-mail - Write a Letter - Call Your Representative Today !- sample letter from ProLiteracy - Check Out the 100 Day Plan @

I encourage you to target a minimum of $50 million to adult literacy and basic education programs as part of any economic stimulus package brought to Congress for action.

An estimated 30 million adults in the U.S. can barely read and write. There is a higher rate of unemployment in this group than in the general population. Many work in low-skill and low-paying jobs. Of the one million jobs lost this year, many were these low-skill jobs. For many of the unemployed, training for higher-skill jobs will require learning the fundamentals of reading, of writing, and of speaking English.

Local adult literacy and basic education programs are committed to preparing these adults for work. Many community-based programs offer workplace literacy services and partner with community groups to get people working. But thousands of adults are already on waiting lists for tutors and teachers, and demand is likely to grow as jobs become scarcer.

$50 million in funding for these programs is just a modest increase. It would support just 62,500 new learners at an estimated $800 per student for a year of literacy instruction. Failure to provide even this minimum level of extra funding will cost local, state, and federal governments more in unemployment and public assistance benefits, health care costs, and increased crime rates.

I applaud any action that helps individuals get back to work, but action that does not include funding to help adults gain the skills they need to access new jobs is woefully incomplete.

Sincerely,

Find Your Representatives @ American Library Association

~ members of Congress, governors, state legislators, and more ~

News for You - Online

News for You - Online

News for You provides adult ESL students and struggling readers with news that is easy to read and understand. These engaging, timely stories will help students build language, reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, listening, and speaking skills, and more !

With the online version, students can:
~ Read and listen to the front -page stories
~ Listen sentence-by-sentence or listen to the full story
~ Listen sentence-by-sentence as many times as they need
~ Go back to a story archive for review and more practice
~ Archive begins: June 2008

Published by New Readers Press, a publishing division of ProLiteracy